I885.J 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



371 



and the weakest the West India birch, Bursera. 

 The most clastic is the tamarack, tlie while or 

 shellbark hickory standing far below it. The 

 least elastic and the lowest in specific gravity is 

 the wood of the Ficus aurea. The highest specific 

 gravity, upon which in general depends value as 

 fuel, is attained by the bluewood of Texas, Con- 

 dalia obovata. 



The So-called H.'^rdy Catalpa. — We always 

 protested against the specific use of this name to 

 the Catalpa speciosa as distinguished from C. 

 bignonioides, because the latter is quite as hardy as 

 most North .-Xmerican forest trees are. C. speciosa 

 might possibly be hardier, but that did not warrant 

 the imputation that C. bignonioides, or the east- 

 ern catalpa, was not hardy in any lair acceptation 

 of the term. Bat it turns out that C. speciosa is 

 no more hardy than the older species. "The 

 Bulletin No. 7 of the Agricultural College of 

 Michigan" says : 



"The two catalpas, C. speciosa and C. bignoni- 

 oides, are about equally hardy. Both suffer con- 

 siderably, and appear to be unreliable. As Catalpa 

 speciosa has not been recognized as distinct from 

 the older species until quite recently, the leading 

 distinction between the two may be given. C. 

 speciosa — tree tall, a straight grower ; leaves softly 

 downy, inodorous; flowers two inches across, 

 nearly white, the lower lobe notched ; pods stout 

 and long (one and a half inches in circumference). 

 C. bignonioides — tree lower, diffuse in growth ; 

 leaves smooth, or nearly so, giving a disagreeable 

 odor when touched ; flowers smaller, dingy, the 

 lower lip entire ; pods more slender. Teas' Japan 

 Hybrid Catalpa is not hardy." 



And of its climate it says: 



"The climate of Lansing appears to be uncom- 

 monly severe for this latitude (43- nearly) in 

 Michigan. Last winter the mercury sank 32'^, 

 and many times in quick succession it was below 

 minus twenty. That, however, was an unusually 

 rigorous winter. Moreover, the college campus 

 lies in an open and exposed country, and the 

 winter winds are very destructive. It is only the 

 hardiest plants which can endure long." 



Natural History and Science. 



COMMUNICATIONS. 



NATIVE FLOWERS OF SOUTH CAROLINA 

 NEAR THE MOUNTAINS OF NORTH 

 CAROLINA. 



BY MRS. J. S. R. THOMSON. 



I was interested in an article on page 278, Sep- 

 tember Gardeners' Monthly, comparing the 

 native flowers of Rochester, N. Y., with California, 

 within a given radius, and the desire to have some 

 adequate idea of the number which grow here be- 

 came strong within me. I am no botanist, alas ! 

 but I have a keen eye, and when driving each 

 day I always hie to the woods and water courses, 

 trusting to same keen eyes to discover some new 

 species (new to me, I mean). Dr. Asa Gray, but 

 oftenest the Editor of Gardeners' Monthly, has 

 named for me unknown species ; and last said a 

 few weeks since in a note, after having named a 

 native Hydrangea nivea for me, that " if I looked 

 sharp I would most hkely find an allied plant, 

 American Climbing Hydrangea, Decumaria 

 barbara," which put me into a fever of eager 

 watchfulness. I took my three books — Peter 

 Henderson's " Hand Book of Plants," Chapman's 

 " Flora of the South," and Dr. Preyre Porcher's 



"Resources of the Southern States" — and read un- 

 til I thought I could identify it if I was lucky 

 enough to come across it. For years I had ad- 

 mired a climbing plant with myriads of white flat 

 clustered flowers which clung to the tree whereon 

 it grew with the tenacity of ivy, and always in- 

 tended removing a small specimen to my own 

 home, thinking it would be a good companion 

 with my Ampelopsis Veichtii which covers hun- 

 dreds of feet of the brick foundation of my home. 

 Athap-hazard I drove to this specimen and col- 

 lected many branches, feeling sure as soon as I 

 reached it that I had hit it correctly, for it having 

 flowered in June it was filled with its seed vessels, 

 which, according to descriptions, ought to be urn 

 shaped, and sure enough they are. They remind 

 me of the old fashioned Pot-pourri Pots of our 

 grandmothers with their queer, squeezed-in, little 

 covers. But to make sure I sent specimens to 

 the Editor of Gardeners' Monthly and he re- 

 plied, " You have found it at last, sure enough." 

 This A. M. I drove out to gloat over this discovery 

 and to study habits of leaf, flower and growth, 

 and afterwards continued my drive a little far. 

 ther. I suppose I went not over one-fourth of a 

 mile and investigated in a very cursory manner 



